


I'll Find My Way Back to You

by shipsnthenight



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 10:24:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13409250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsnthenight/pseuds/shipsnthenight
Summary: “…you are not coming with us are you?”





	I'll Find My Way Back to You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost of a story I wrote 5 YEARS AGO. It's set in Once Upon a Time season 2, when everyone (in the show) still hated Regina and her character development was still at the beginning. Just... keep that in mind when you read it.

“Come on mom we are the last ones!” Henry was holding Regina’s hand tightly as he ran towards the portal. It had been a year since Cora arrived in Storybrooke and brought Tiny with her. Now the beans were finally ready and the whole town had moved back to fairytale land in the last weeks.  
The Charmings and Regina had stayed behind to ensure that everyone would go back home safely, and also to convince Emma that life in fairytale land could be as good as life in the real world. (Henry had taken a large part in that argument, finally convincing his mom to go.)  
Today was finally the day. The day he would go to fairytale land, where he, Emma and his family belonged. He’ll learn to be a prince, to swordfight, to ride horses and one day he would become king. The little boy could not be happier.  
As he ran, he saw that Emma, Neal, and David were already on the other side, waiting for him, and he started running faster, but Regina didn’t. Henry’s hand slipped through her fingers as she stopped, causing the boy to stop running and turning around.

“Mom, what’s going on?”

“Henry…” Regina didn’t have the heart to answer him, she just stared at him with her deep brown eyes, hoping she wouldn’t have to explain herself to him.  
Henry grew more and more confused and his gaze went a few times from the portal to Regina before it hit him.

“…you are not coming with us are you?”

“Henry I can’t…”

“NO!” Henry interrupted her.

“You can’t! You have to come with me! With us!”

“Henry you don’t understand. There’s magic everywhere back there!”

“So what? It’s been a year! You haven’t used magic in a long time! Why should it be different there!”

“It’s a risk I can’t take! Not when your safety is at stake. Henry please, this was my idea, Emma and Snow agreed with me. It’s too dangerous.”

Henry didn’t know what to do. Now that he finally had his mother back, he had to let her go. And again, it was because of magic.

“But… but I’ll never see you again…” tears started running down his face as he slowly realized everything that his mother’s choice meant, and Regina ran to him to take him in her arms.

“Oh Henry. No matter where I will go, or what I will do, you will always be my little boy.” Now they were both crying and holding on to each other like there was no tomorrow. And in a way, there wasn’t.  
Regina reached into her pocket and took out the picture of her and Henry that she had taken from his bedroom back home, and she gave it to him with a sad smile. “Always, Henry.”  
The boy took the picture in his hands and stared at it for a while, still unable to stop the tears falling from his eyes.

“We will grow the beans again back there. And one day I will be back! I promise!”  
His determination made Regina chuckle even in that moment, and she hugged him one last time.

“I’m sure you will Henry.”  
She let herself melt in that last hug a little longer before she reluctantly let Henry go.

“You have to hurry. The portal won’t stay open much longer.”

Never moving his eyes from her, Henry started walking backwards towards the portal, taking in probably the last images he would ever have of his mother. She had loved him so much, and for too much time he had been blinded by a stupid book that had put a label on her that no one could ever fully remove. Now their time was over and as he walked through the portal and in Emma’s waiting arms, he allowed himself to look back just one last time and the last thing he saw before the portal closed was not the Evil Queen, but simply his mother. His REAL mother.

 

* * *

 

She was running late for work, and she knew her boss wouldn’t let it slide this time, not even if it was her birthday. She ran up the escalators trying to be as quick as possible, but slowed down when she heard her phone ring. “Oh great.” she thought “Must be someone from the office calling to warn me that the boss is out for blood.” she checked the number but it read unknown. “Strange… I have the number of every one of my colleagues. Must be a wrong number.” She pressed the green button anyway, ready to politely turn down the mysterious caller.

“Hello?”

The other end was silent for a moment, but she could hear someone breathing, and sounds from a street. She was about to end the call when she heard a voice she hadn’t heard for 10 years now. It had changed of course, but she would have recognized it in a million anyway.

“… happy birthday mom.”

It couldn’t be. He couldn’t be here, it was simply not possible. He was over there with everyone else. She had watched him walk through that portal all those years ago and that was the last time she’d seen him.

“You look good” the voice continued.

For a moment she thought she’d forgotten how to breathe, she looked around, her eyes frantically searching for a 10-year-old, before realizing she had no idea what he looked like now. until she saw a man right in front of her. Half hidden by the crowd on the sidewalk, a little smile on his face, the one she had seen so many times when he was just a little boy, and that for so long he had denied her after that book came into their lives. But now it was for her, and for her only. She looked him in the eyes and that’s when she forgot all the doubts, those beautiful green eyes she had missed so much were staring right at her, greeting her after all these years. Her cellphone slipped from her grasp as she let go a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Henry…”


End file.
